Finding Ways to Move Job Fairs and Interviews Online
Today, many school districts are using popular videoconferencing platforms to hold job fairs and interviews virtually.
Tyler Independent School District in Texas, for example, is having job fairs across multiple meetings on Zoom — one virtual meeting room per campus. Meanwhile, California’s San Francisco Unified School District interviewed 70 potential teachers over Google Meet in March and plans to do so again this month.
There are also platforms districts can use to simulate in-person job fairs. EdFuel, a nonprofit organization in the educational management sector, offers a platform complete with virtual recruitment booths that prospective employees can click on to learn more about the school they’re interested in and speak with a representative from that school, according to The Washington Post. The California Center on Teaching Careers has a similar platform, which even features a virtual teacher prep hall and is accessible on a web browser.
Other districts have been more creative in how they’re recruiting teachers. Rather than hosting a typical job fair, Pasadena (Texas) Independent School District asked applicants to upload two-minute video applications on Flipgrid, an educational video discussion platform, using a link on its website, the Houston Chronicle reports. The district contacted candidates who met the job qualifications and invited them to participate in a drive-up hiring event at the district’s administration building.
Thanks to technology, administrators and district leaders can still recruit and employ qualified teachers even if they can’t meet them face to face.